Planning a Beautiful Wedding, Frugally

When I became engaged I had a little over two months to plan a wedding. Many people thought that I was absolutely crazy and insane to try to plan a wedding in that short period of time. But, I did, and I never sweated it. Mainly, because I knew what I wanted, and I was going to stick with it. I had already figured out what my colors would be, where I would have my wedding, who my bridesmaids would be, and so forth. And, I knew the type of invitations that I wanted to purchase.

Even with all of that knowledge, there were many small details that I had not thought about. Here are some frugal and time saving tips for planning a wedding.

Dress

I bought my wedding dress for a good price. I paid $500 for a beautiful ivory wedding gown. I got it at this price, because it had been displayed in a showroom, and had dirt on the bottom. So, they knocked the price way down. All I did was buy the dress, and paid $75 to get it professionally cleaned. So, a total of $575. Not bad. I credit finding a bargain to shopping around. It is very important to shop around, and to negotiate on prices. Some brides have worn second hand wedding dresses that were beautiful and elegant, and only a couple hundred dollars. Figure out how much you are willing to pay on a dress, and try to stick to your budget.

Bridesmaids Dresses

Since I was in a time crunch, I did not have the luxury of choosing one style of dress for my bridesmaids to wear, and order them. Instead I chose the color, fabric, and length of the dresses, and the bridesmaids were able to choose their own style of dress. I did this at David's Bridal. I told them it had to be their pale pink color, satin, and floor length. It worked perfectly, and all of my bridesmaids looked beautiful, with dresses that complimented their body figures.

Invitations

I went to Hallmark and chose a pretty set of blank bridal invitations, and purchased the amount that I needed. I then supplied Hallmark with the information to print on the invitations, and they were ready in 24 hours. They were beautiful, not too expensive, and it only took about two days to complete. I had tried to order invitations online, which were more expensive, and took at least a few weeks to be completed and shipped to me, so going this route was much easier for me.

Enlist Help

If you know a friend or family member who is a caterer, photographer, wedding planner, D.J., entertainer, etc., enlist their help. I enlisted the help of friends who gladly offered their services either free of charge or a small fee.

Planning a wedding does not have to blow your budget or stress you out. It can and should be a fun, exciting, and creative adventure. The more details you have planned out, the less stress you have. Happy wedding planning!